Hamas cries foul, saying electricity blackouts in Gaza are engineered by outside forces to undermine the Palestinian resistance, reports Saleh Al-Naami Abdel-Halim Al-Helw thought that using a power generator at night would guarantee that this seven month-old infant son would survive until electricity is restored in the morning. Infant Mohamed, born with a birth defect, was breathing through a respirator but the device stopped when the generator broke down and the power went out in the house. Mohamed died instantly. The tragedy demonstrates the effects of power outages on all aspects of life in the Gaza Strip, especially health, with thousands of patients in hospitals. Dr Ahmed Abu Samha, at the European Hospital in south Khan Younis, the second largest hospital in the Gaza Strip, said that sudden power outages have damaged patient monitoring equipment, especially in the ICU, as well as equipment linking different departments in the hospital. Dr Abu Samha told Al-Ahram Weekly that doctors and nurses are constantly on alert out of concern that damage to these devices could jeopardise the lives of patients. "What is most alarming for doctors and nurses when dealing with a patient in critical condition is that the risk to his life sharply rises when there is a sudden power outage," he said. Another doctor at the hospital added: "Many times a doctor needs to look at test results to diagnose what is wrong, but blackouts or damage to lab equipment makes this impossible in most cases." No doubt, the units most at risk during power outages are the ICU, heart and kidney units since patients are hooked up to electric devices and there is always a danger that a blackout would cut electricity to the device and greatly harm the patient. Ziyad, whose mother goes to hospitals three times a week for dialysis treatment, said that several times the power generator stopped mid-treatment, which greatly embarrassed the medical team. Although all hospitals in the Gaza Strip have large power generators, they constantly need fuel to operate during power outages. Since there is a shortage of fuel smuggled from Egypt through the tunnels, the fuel reserves at hospitals are dropping quickly, which affects their ability to continue operating during blackouts. Bassem Naim, the minister of health in the Gaza government, said that all medical services in the Gaza Strip are facing serious challenges and it is difficult to predict the fate of these services if electricity problems continue. "The crisis affects the performance of critical units at hospitals and primary care units," Naim said. "Hospital reliance on generators is very risky especially during major surgeries or [for the] ICU. Any interruption in electricity or lack of fuel at any moment could result in real catastrophe." The electricity crisis coincided with fuel shortages, as long queues of people and vehicles outside petrol stations have become commonplace in the Gaza Strip as soon as there is news that more fuel supplies have arrived through the tunnels. Sometimes people suffer going to fuelling stations, crowding and long queues before finding that it was only a rumour and there is no fuel there. Fuel shortages have also prevented many taxi drivers from working, which has resulted in a crisis in public transportation. Some car owners now pack passengers on top of each other. Osama Salman, a teacher who rides a taxi from Al-Nosayrat Refugee Camp in central Gaza to work every day, compared the crowding inside the car to a can of sardines. But the most serious problem resulting from fuel shortages is that some drivers are once again resorting to using cooking oil as an alternative fuel. The danger is the carcinogenic emissions of burning cooking oil, according to health sources in the Gaza Strip, and the foul smell emitted by vehicles using this type of oil. Mohamed Awad, foreign minister and deputy prime minister of the Gaza government, accused foreign parties of engineering the electricity crisis to further tighten the siege on Gaza. Awad said that the crisis is manipulated by political motives but his government will overcome the crisis just like it has others in the past. He added that the Gaza government is not responsible for the problem but instead it is the doing of parties that hate Gaza. Awad explained that the crisis occurred after the EU transferred donated funds for purchasing fuel to the Palestinian Authority (PA) in Ramallah that it no longer transfers them, to buy needed fuel to operate the solitary power station in the Gaza Strip. "The occupation that put the Gaza Strip under siege is responsible for the crisis, as well as the tools of occupation," he asserted. Awad added that the Egyptian government was very cooperative at the beginning of the crisis and promised to resolve it, stating that his government signed several agreements with the ��Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC) to guarantee the supply of fuel to the Gaza Strip. He noted, however, that certain players in Egypt retracted their commitments although $2 million was transferred to the EGPC as a down-payment for the fuel. The electricity crisis has also resulted in great tensions between Hamas and Haniyeh's government on the one hand, and the PA and Egyptian security agencies on the other. Hamas accused "Mubarak remnants" of conspiring with Fatah to tighten the siege on the Gaza Strip and tie the hands of Hamas and its government. Egyptian officials responded that Hamas's accusations demonstrate that the group wants to export its problems outside. Meanwhile, Fatah viewed the energy crisis in Gaza as the result of Hamas's inability to manage the affairs of the Gaza Strip. Salah Al-Bardawil, a leading member in Hamas, said that "the electricity crisis has uncovered the role of senior officials in Mubarak's ousted regime who helped impose the siege on Gaza and escalate the current crisis," Al-Bardawil said. "The electricity and fuel crisis aims to put pressure on the Palestinian people and politically blackmail them." Kanaan Obeid, chairman of the Energy Authority in Gaza, directly accused Egyptian authorities of undermining the agreement that was reached with EGPC to supply Gaza with fuel. Obeid said that Egyptian authorities are trying to force the Gaza government to allow the entry of fuel through the Karem Abu Salem Crossing that is controlled by Israel. He added that contacts continue with the Egyptian parliament to resolve the issue, asking Egypt to allow the passage of fuel to the Gaza Strip from across the Arab world. Fatah Spokesman Osama Al-Qawasma, however, responded that, "Hamas is going through severe divisions and schizophrenia." "The motives of its leadership in Gaza are to control material and sources of income, and to achieve this goal it is reinforcing national divisions. Hamas's leadership in Gaza is wasting millions on investment projects by companies affiliated to it, and grants land to its institutions without due right. Meanwhile, the poor Palestinian citizen in the Gaza Strip can barely make ends meet." Hamas news websites published a document said to reveal the complicity of Egyptian, Jordanian, US and PA intelligence in a plot to buttress the siege on the Gaza Strip. The document was the "minutes of a meeting between representatives from the Egyptian, Jordanian, US and Palestinian intelligence in the Jordanian capital Amman on 27 February". According to the document, "there is agreement among all present parties on a series of measures against Hamas to tighten the siege on Gaza," and to pressure Hamas, end missile attacks and strengthen security cooperation between the PA and the Israeli occupation. As accusations fly back and forth, Palestinians in Gaza are suffering one humanitarian crisis after another without a glimmer of hope.
